USB Canary Sends an SMS When Someone Tinkers with Your USB Ports

A new tool released on GitHub last week can help paranoid sysadmins keep track of whenever someone plugs in or disconnects an USB-based device from high-value workstations.

Called USB Canary, this tool is coded in Python and currently, works only on Linux. As its author told Bleeping Computer in a private conversation, work is already on its way for Windows and Mac versions.

The tool works by watching USB connectors for any activity while the computer is locked, which generally means the owner has left his desk.

If an USB device is plugged in or unplugged, USB Canary can perform one of two actions, or both. It can alert the owner by sending an SMS message via the Twilio API, or it can post a message in a Slack channel, which can be monitored by other co-workers.